All government schools in Australia have a responsibility to identify gifted and talented children and provide opportunities to optimise their education. But right now in New South Wales, many public primary school parents are considering whether to apply for their child to attend an Opportunity Class during years 5 and 6. And parents have much more to contemplate than their child’s academic environment ... Parents making a decision with their child about placement in an Opportunity Class may wish to talk about the following: Read full article
Raise the topic of homework with parents of school age children and watch the sparks fly. Parent opinion on homework ranges from those who’d like to see it eliminated altogether to those who set extra work for their children to make up for what they see as an overly relaxed approach. Teachers are caught in the middle – not to mention kids - and even education experts are unable to present a united front about the value of homework. This article looks at the research about the value of homework in primary school and high school. Read full article
Personal Best (PB) goals, often associated with the glittering achievements of sports stars, are now finding their way to the classroom, and they are making a difference in academic achievement. Professor Andrew Martin from the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney has recently released a study investigating the role of personal best goals in the achievement and engagement of students with and without ADHD. Read full article
Step into Anna Kearney’s third grade classroom, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, California, and you will see amongst the usual colourful art projects, a row of plastic cups stapled to the wall. There are ten numbered cups in all and they are part of Self Science, a social and emotional education curriculum developed by 6 Seconds ... Time spent on Self Science has not detracted from other academic learning, says Kearney, but instead has enhanced learning across the board. Read full article
According to current popular discourse, modern day parents fall into one of two distinct categories: relaxed free-ranger or over involved and controlling helicopter. And while much fun can be had satirising the extremes of either parenting style, missing from the discussion has been a deeper analysis of the larger context in which everyday parenting decisions are made ... When I examine my own parenting I find myself veering wildly between the two extremes, the parenting equivalent of the hybrid car. Read full article
My eldest son was born seventeen years ago. In the time-honoured principle of new mothers, I thought him the most attractive, charming and gifted baby in the entire world. When it came to the last of these I may have had more claim than most. On his first birthday I took M to the early childhood centre for a developmental check. The nurse handed him a shape sorter with four different shaped blocks, which he promptly slotted into their respective slots without faltering: one, two, three, four. Read full article
Wednesday 2 February 2011 - Links to Latest Parenting and Education news: Curing Childhood Cancers ~ Teen Blogger Jailed ~ Behaviour of 'Poor' Children in UK ~ Swearing in US Schools ~ School Achievement and Race in US ~ Police Taking Teens Home off Streets ~ Influence of Technology on Childhood Read full article
Book: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. The controversial yet compelling parenting biography by Chinese-American author who writes about her journey as a parent determined to use what she calls "Chinese parenting" to raise successful children. But the journey does not end in the way she expects. Read full article
Today the Sunday Telegraph published a story headlined "Our Great Divide on Schools Revealed." The gist of the article is that parents want more say in the running of schools and they want the best teachers rewarded. I say yes to both of those ideas but I don't believe there's necessarily a "deep divide"... 49% of teachers surveyed do not want excellent teachers to receive more than their colleagues that under-perform ... 48% of teachers do not want “bad teachers” to be sacked Read full article
Book: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman. Goleman argues that our view of human intelligence is far too narrow, and that our emotions play a far greater role in thought, decision making and individual success than is commonly acknowledged. He shows precisely how emotional intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened in all of us. And because emotional lessons a child learns actually sculpt the brain's circuitry, he provides detailed guidance as to how parents and schools can benefit from this. Read full article
